Theories and Themes A brief overview of the theorists whose ideas are the framework for this course. Late 1950s – Edward Hall • Anthropologist. World War II -- U.S. Army in Europe and the Philippines. Later, Director of the Foreign Service Institute training program. He observed first hand the many difficulties created by failures of intercultural communication. • Proxemics – human use of space within the context of culture • Personal space and community (town) space • Also looked at monochromic and polychromic time Late 1960s – Geert Hofstede Founded and managed personnel research dept of IBM Europe. • Surveyed 116,000 IBM employees in 40 countries on preferences around management style and work environment • 4 dimensions where differences by country were significant o power distance o uncertainty avoidance o individualism/collectivism Cross-Cultural L’ship Fall 2004 Page 1

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...kept quiet.
Hofstede Analysis - Australia
Of note is the high level of individuality Australian's hold dear. This is reinforced in their daily lives and must be considered when traveling and doing business in the Country. Privacy is considered the norm and attempts at personal ingratiation may meet with rebuff. Uncertainty avoidance is relatively low with a family centered culture and a stable society.
CANADA
The western frontier was "opened" in 1885 when the Canadian transcontinental railroad completed its peaceful construction process. The railroad offered cheap land so immigrants moved in communities establishing towns with citizens from the same European country. These settlements, along with the Inuit communities, give Canada cultural diversity across its nation, not just in major metropolitan cities. Keep in mind that Quebec, because it is a French province, has a very different value system from the rest of Canada, with its predominately English influence.
Hofstede Analysis – Canada
The majority of Canadians, as well as citizens of other English speaking countries, (see Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States) have individualism ranked highest. Success is measure by personal achievement. Canadians tend to be self-confident and open to discussions on general topics; however, they hold their personal privacy off limits to all but the closest friends. It should be noted there is tension between the French province of Quebec...

...Introduction
The topic of cross-culturalmanagement is becoming increasingly popular. As more and more organizations expand globally, people from culturally diverse backgrounds have recognized the need to work together effectively by learning to be culturally sensitive. Although it appears that managing virtual teams is more complex than managing traditionally aligned teams, success of virtual teams in software fields would suggest otherwise.
This paper focuses on the interactions of people in virtual teams trying to understand its challenges as well as its advantages. It also highlights the importance of managing virtual teams in view of its advantages. Whereas it appears that crosscultural issues in teams arise primarily due to miscommunication, successfully performing virtual teams cite communication as their key enabler. By looking deeply into the success factors behind virtual teams, we try to derive key learnings in the area of crossculturalmanagement.
Content
In the recent past, strategic business plans have failed due to cultural mismatches. Until recently, systematic attention has rarely been directed towards crosscultural dimensions risk-assessment of outsourcing arrangements. Nowadays, increasingly, organizations are addressing the fact that cultural risk assessment was neglected...

...1080/08961530.2011.578057
Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior: A Review of Research Findings
Marieke de Mooij Geert Hofstede
ABSTRACT. Most aspects of consumer behavior are culture-bound. This article reviews the cultural relationships with the self, personality, and attitude, which are the basis of consumer behavior models and branding and advertising strategies. The Hofstede model is used to explain variance. Other consumer behavior aspects reviewed are motivation and emotions, cognitive processes such as abstract versus concrete thinking, categorization and information processing, as well as consumer behavior domains such as product ownership, decision making, and adoption and diffusion of innovations. Implications for global branding and advertising are included. KEYWORDS. Culture, dimensions, personality, self, emotion, global branding, communication
INTRODUCTION
Recent years have seen increased interest in the inﬂuence of culture on consumer behavior as well as increased research. In this article we review studies of the inﬂuence of culture that are relevant to international marketing. We discuss the various areas of research following the components of human behavior as structured in our Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior Framework (ﬁgure 1), which was inspired by a conceptual model by Manrai and Manrai (1996). In this framework we structure the cultural components of the...

...personal call will be more effective than sending a letter and seen as good manners.
It is possible that Digby¡¦s team will be asked some personal questions in Japan. They should be aware that it is just an attempt of Japanese to be friendly. One recommendation here for Digby¡¦s team is trying not to show discomfort with such questions. Building up a good personal relationship with Japanese partners will be very useful for the business cooperation.
3.0 The Management Cultures in Japan and Germany
Power Distance:
It is important to recognize the impact of culture on management. According to Hofstede¡¦s study, Japan was characterized as a high power distance country. The style of management would appear to be strongly authoritarian but paternal. (www.solbaram.org) In contrast, Germany has low power distance, managers tend to socialize and interact with workers more often and emphasis is on challenging decisions, expecting autonomy and independence. (www.solbaram.org)
Collectivist and Individualist
Another key management culture difference between Germany and Japan is collectivist and individualist. As most western European cultures, Germany is marked by a strong sense of individualism. For example, in many business decisions, not only the financial benefits to the company are important, but also those of its employees. The structure of much German business decision-making requires consensual input from both...

...
The globalization of the business environment that is being driven by technological and economic factors is resulting in an ever-increasing number of cross-cultural interactions in the workplace. Understanding the influence of culture on interpersonal interactions in organizational settings is now a fundamental requirement of effective international management.
In todays international business world we often have to cooperate with people from different cultures. Cross-culture management techniques help cope with this differences so as to better succeed in the diverse environment.
Cross-culturalmanagement concerns the interaction of differing cultures in a business environment. When businessmen meet people from other cultures, varying approaches to this culturalmanagement allow for enhanced understanding and cooperation.
Cross-culture management techniques help managers contend with the challenges and opportunities of managing employees in a culturally diverse organizational environment. Increasing globalization has created more awareness of the need for managers to be sensitive to the cultural aspects of decision-making.
The techniques hinge on an understanding of the values and beliefs of employees from different cultural backgrounds. Cross-culture...

...A PAPER ON
“CROSSCULTURAL TRAINING”
-Ms. Sarika Kale
INTRODUCTION:
Globalization of business has led to cross border flows of physical, financial and human resources. It has resulted in both a large number of people working abroad, as well as an increasingly multi cultural domestic work environment. To face the ever growing competition, organizations are expanding their businesses, outsourcing and even establishing offices overseas. Organizations are not only searching the world for opportunities to sell or source but also to find intellectual capital- the world’s best talent and ideas. This brings new employees of different origin, language and national culture thus adding complexities to the culture of domestic organizations. Effective use of crosscultural teams can provide a source of experience and innovative thinking to enhance the competitive position of organizations. However, cultural differences often lead to misunderstandings, frustrations, cultural shock etc. These have to be tackled effectively if the benefits of a diverse and talented workforce are to be realized.
Another dynamic factor that brings about a cultural change within organizations is cross border acquisitions. Many domestic companies are entering foreign markets and signing merger deals. Other...

... Monash University English Language Center
English Language Bridging Program Diploma 2
Research Essay
“Evaluate The Importance of Cross-Cultural Studies for Managers”
Student : Galih Ardisatria
Student ID : 23006773
Teachers : Jonathan Steven
Date of submission : 27 September 2010
Word Count : 1394
In the twenty-first century, globalization encourages people to do business across countries and this leads to global markets, which remove boundaries for people to do business. This means that people from different cultural backgrounds across the world now work together. People now also have more opportunities to work in international teams. Therefore, companies have to deal with members of national cultures, including their employees, customers, and business partners. Today’s managers are facing modern management demands as their work become increasingly more challenging (Walker, Walker & Schmitz 2003). In this case, it creates major awareness on the need of cross-cultural studies as an essential skill for managers.
What are cross-cultural studies? Brislin (1976) defines them as ‘Empirical investigations, which compare groups who have had...